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TAGBOARD CODEWORD CONSIDERATIONS

11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 14 000508210

TAG BOARD is a codeword, issued under the authority of the Director of Central Intelligence, for the purpose of providing extraordinary security protection to an intelligence collection program.

Codewords, by themselves, are unclassified. That is, the name TAGBOARD is not classified. But when TAGBOARD is associated with its program, mission, hardware, military organization, contractors, funding, etc, it is classified within the BYEMAN Control System. The association of any aspect of the program with the codeword is a BYEMAN fact.

There are other BYEMAN codewords in existence to protect ongoing intelligence collection programs, the revelation of which is highly undesirable from a security standpoint.

From time to time the codeword pertaining to a particular program which has been terminated has been decompartmented and been linked, at a collateral security classification, with the program mission. This is a decision of the Central Intelligence Agency. This decompartmentation, however, does not cause any information to be released outside of classified channels. The TAGBOARD codeword has not been considered for decompartmentation.

The fact that a BYEMAN codeword such as TAG BOARD has appeared openly, through a security compromise, does not cause any information about the program to become unclassified or associated with the codeword.

The D-21 drone vehicle is the reconnaissance vehicle developed and used in the TAGBOARD program. The unused vehicles were decommissioned and sent to the Military Aircraft Storage and Disposition Center in 1976, where they are visible to the public. At that time, the National Reconnaissance Office authoriz~d a very few statements which could be released in response to direct public query about the drone vehicle. These specifically declined to comment about denied area overflight missions.

The CIA "Studies in Intelligence", Volume 15. No.1, winter 1971 issue carries an article titled "The OXCART Story", at the SECRET level. Although this would be a logical place to discuss the interface between the OXCART and TAG BOARD programs, the article does hot contain any reference to the 6-21 or TAGBOARD. (See article attached.)

Attached are excerpts from three books, each of which shows photos of the D-21 drone (with credits for releasing them going to Lockheed or the Air Force, depending upon which book you

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read). Each excerpt contains some facts, and some information which is not factual. No reference in published literature was found to the name "TAGBOARD":neither could the CIA Office of History pinpoint any open reference to the codeword.

There are long-term international implications to revelation of national reconnaissance missions which collect intelligence from overflight of sovereign territory during peacetime. The fact that the TAGBOARD Program did conduct overflights of a foreign nation on more than one mission is extremely sensitive, and public acknowledgement could result in precluding our ability to conduct denied area drone reconnaissance in the future. Acknowledgement about any aspects of the TAG BOARD program could embarrass the united States Government; unlike a military weapon system program that, when compromised, can often be declassified, the policy for intelligence collection programs is to neither confirm or deny their existence even after their conclusion.

ATCH: Article 3 Excerpts

2

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First published in the USA by Motorbooks Internationai Publishers and Wholesalers Inc, PO Box 2, 729 Prospect Avenue, OsceOla, WI 54020 USA

Produced by David Donald Aerospace Publishing Ltd 179 Dalling Road London, W6 DES, England

© Aerospace Publishing Ltd 1987 Color profiles © Pilot Press Ltd

First published I 987

ISBN: 0-87938-258-9 LC: 87-11062

All rights reserved. With the exception of quoting brief passages for the purposes of review no part of this publica tion may be reproduced without pnor written permission from the publisher.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author would like to express hlSgratitude to the following for their support and assistance during the production of this book Lt. CoL Bruce M. Bailey, USAF (retd.), Jon Lake, Anne Skorzewski. David Mondey and Piiot Press Ltd The publishers would like to thankthe following individuaisand organisations ior their kind help in supplying illustratiOns for this book

page 6: US Air Force page 7: Robert F. Dorr page S: Royal Air Force Museum. Imperial War Museum page 9: US Air Force page 10: US Marine Corps, Bruce Robertsonpage II: Imperial War Museum (two) page 12: MacClancy Collection, US Air Force (two) page 13: McClancy Collection page 14: US Air Force page 15: via Bruce M. Bailey page 16: US Air Force (two) page 17: US Air Force page 18:via Jon Lake (two), via Robert L. Lawson page 19: US Air Force, via Jon Lake page 20: US Navy (two) page 21:viaJon Lake (two) page 22: US Air Force (two)page 23: BruceM. Bailey page 24: Bruce M. Bailey, via RL. Ward, Bruce M. Bailey page 25: Bruce M. Bailey, Boeing, US Air Force page 26: US Air Force (two) page 27: US Air Force (two) page 28: Lockheed, US Air Force page 29: Lockheed page 30: VF-102J US Navy page 31: Lockheed page 32: US Air Force (two) page 33: US Air Force page 34: Lockheed, US Air Force (two) page 3S: US Air Force, Bruce M. Bailey, US Air Force page 36: Bruce M. Bailey (two), via jon Lake page 37: \~aJon Lake (four) page 38: Via Jon Lake, US Air Force page 39: RAF Wyton page 40: US Air Force (two) page 41: US Air Force page 42: US Air Force. Lockheed (two) page 43: Lockheed (two) page 46: Lockheed Bruce M Bailey, via David Donald page 47: US Air Force, Bruce M. Bailey. US Air Force page 48: via jon Lake. via Robert F. Dorr, Peter R Foster page 49: US Navy (two) page SO: Lockheed page 51: Lockheed page 62: ECPApage 53: Bruce M Bailey, US Air Force page 84: Bruce M. Bailey (three)

,...page 55: Bruce M. Bailey (three) page 56: Bruce M. Bailey (four) page 57: US Air Force page 58: US Navy (two), US Marine Corps, Jerry Edwards via Rene J. F.rancillonpage 59: US Navy, Lockheed page 60: via Rene]. Francillon, US Air Force. US Army (two) page 61: US Air Force (two), 100th SRW via David Donald page 62: lOath SRWvia DaVId Donald. Bruce M. Bailey, lOath SRW via David Donald page 53: Bruce M. Bailey (two), US Air Force page 64: Bruce M. Bailey

(three) page 65: Bruce M Bailey. Lockheed Bruce M Bailey (three) page 66: Bruce M Bailey (two) page 67: Ryan, 100th SRW via David Donald page 68: Lockheed, Bruce M. Bailey (two) page 69: US Air Force page 70: via Rene l Francillon page 71: Royal Navy page 72: US Air Force page 73: US Navy page 74: US Navy, Associated Press, VF -102lUS Navy page 75: Department of Defense, US Navy, Ministry of Defence page 76: Swedish air force, US Navy page 78: US Air Force (two) page 79: Associated Press, Chris Pocock page 80: Bob A Munro, Lockheed page 81: US Navy page 82: Terry Senior (two) page 83: via Rene J. Francilbn, Terry Senior page 84: Terry Senior, Swedish air force, vialon Lake pageB5: via Jon Lake, Terry Senior, Rabin A Walker, Terry Seniorpage 86: Peter R Foster, via Jon Lake, Peter R Foster, via Jon Lake page 87: via jon Lake (two), Terry Senior page 88: Peter R. FOSler, Paul A jackson page 89: Cpl Matt Trim, Swedish air force page 90: US Air Force, US Navy, Grumman page 91: US Air Force, Department of Defense, US Air Force page 92: via Jon Lake (two) page 93: US Navy page 94: Lockheed page95: David Donald page 96: David Donald, via Rene J. Franciiion, Terry Senior page 98: David Donald, 17th Reonnaissance Wing, US Air Force page 99: US Air Force (two) page 100: Lindsay Peacock, David Donald page 101: David Donald (two), Lockheed, Jilly Foreman page 102:Jon Lake, Lockheed, David Donald page 103: David Donald, Grumman page 104: Tass. Royal Norwegian Air Force. US Navy page 105: US Air Force page 106: US Navy (two) page 107: US Navy, via V. Flintham page 108: Peter R. Foster, Jon Lake page 109: Peter R. Foster, Swedish air force page 110: via Rene J. F.rancillon, Austin}, Brown page Ill: via Paul A. Jackson page 112: via]ohn W. R. Taylor, Denys Hughes page I 14: US Air Force page liS: David Donald page 116: R. Shaw, Lockheedpage 117: viaJon Lake, Lockheed page 120: Lockheed page 121: US Air Force (two) page 122: US Air Force page 123: NASA


-.. ~.

Above: The single seat cockpit, short taU cone and slender nose profile identity this as an A·12, used operationally before the SR-11 A took over the mission. Sensors were carried largely in the chine area.

Below: Two A-12swere converted to carry the Milch 4 Lockheed 0·21 drone, with a central pylon and a second cockpitior the launch control officer. Note the black painted nose, chines 'and leading edges of the A·12.


late 1950s, and work was soon progressing rapidly on the A-12 design to the extent that it was complete by January 1962.

Transported by road to the Groom Lake facility in Nevada that had seen the major part of the U-2 flight test programme, the A-12 was assembled and readied for its first flight. This occurred unofficially on 24 April during a high-speed taxi run, with the official full first flight taking place two days later with Lou Schalk at the controls. The A-12 was an impressive machine by any account. Basically a delta, two huge engine nacelles were faired into the wing with streamlined chines, and these features were incorporated into the basic cylindrical fuselage structure. The fuselage chines blended into the leading edge of the wing, giving the A-12 the appear-

Left: Three A-12s were developed as YF-l2A interceptors, with fire control radar in a large radome, and infra-red sensor balls in the forward chines. Despite a len!lthy evaluation, the fi!lhter version was rele!lated to NASA hi!lh speed trials flights.

ance of a demented sea monster rather than an aeroplane. Two giant angular slab fins sat on top of the engine nacelles, canted inwards to complete the radical look of the secret aircraft. Initial flight tests showed no major aerodynamic problems, yet the proposed Pratt & Whitney }58 turbojets were not yet ready, so the A-12 flew for the first months powered by two J75 engines. Eventually the }58 was fitted, and a myriad of problems surfaced which dogged the A-12 programme for many months. Chief among these was the propulsive system, each engine requiring superfine control of the airflow by several rows of inlet and outlet doors, together with careful positioning of the giant inlet spike, which travelled forward and aft throughout the flight regime for optimum positioning of the huge shock wave which built up in front of the inlets at high speeds.

A·12 into Seflt7Ce Despite these problems the CIA quickly

put the A-12 into use on reconnaissance missions, but virtually nothing is known of their activities. It is believed that they were operated over China and Vietnam and remained in service until 1967 -68, by which time their missions were taken over bv the SR-71. The basic A-12 was a single seater, and carri ed its sensors in the nose section, chine areas and a Q-bay behind the cockpit. Fifteen were built for the CIA, of which at least six were thought to be lost in accidents. One aircraft incorporated a second raised cockpit for training


!Jefiniiive expression of the 'Blackbird' concept is the SR· 71 A. which replaced the A-12 in service. Serving from the outset with the US Air force. the SR·71A removed most of the problems associated with the earlier A·12. Here the giant braking parachute is deployed. Note the threewheel main landing gear.

SR·715 went into service with the 4200th SIlW at Beale AFB in California (soon renumbered as the 9Ih SIlWI. This example banks over Beale, showing the specialist sheds for 'Blackbird' operations and two ot the Boeing KC·13SO, tankers.


purposes, and two aircraft were configured for the even more secret D-21 drone programme. The D-21 was a Mach 4 ramjet-powered drone which borrowed aerodynamic features from the A·12, a bat-shaDed aircraft resembling a winged A-12 e~gine nacelle. It was carried on a special pylon mounted on the rear fuselage spine of the A-12 and launched at speed and altitude to begin its penetration of extremely hostile airspace, after which it ejected a canister containing the gathered intelligence before being expended. Control during launch was provided by a second crew member stationed in a cabin immediately behind the A-12's pilot. The A-12 period of the D-21's history seems to be an unhappy one, with one of the aircraft being lost during a drone launch when the D-21 flew back into the A-12. Subsequent testing was accomplished from the underwing pylons of Boeing B-52H bombers serving with the 4200th Test Wing at Beale AFB in California, and this combination probably

saw limited operational service over China and Vietnam in the mid- to late-1960s. What degree of success was obtained by the D-21 remains hidden in the vaults of the CIA, and the programme terminated before reaching any large scale use.

Fighter derivative Second in the 'Blackbird' line was the YF-

12A, which was a fighter derivative of the A-12 with a long-range Hughes radar in the nose and associated forward-looking infrared sensors. AlM-47 missiles were carried in fuselage bays and a second cockpit was added for the Weapons Systems Officer. Although considerably slower than the A-12, it was a YF-12A that was used to set world records for speed and altitude. Widely tested, the YF-12A programme amounted only to three aircraft, and these were relegated to general high altitude trials at Edwards AFB and then with NASA

Despite its phenomenal performance the


64

. immediately 0 . ' .

. same period 17D-21 drones.were displayed underthe {. ",sunny skies of Arizona. What did theD-2 Lhaveto do

"" with the"CIA's A-12 spy plane? ",'~>,,':,(::~,:~,~',.,: > "~' A complete answer cannot yetbegiven, but it has been'

established that two A-12aircraft (60-6940 and 60-6941) had been modified by Lockheed to carry a D~21 drone on top of the fuselage between the two engines.Jn the.space at the rear of the cockpit, .normaUycontaining reconnaissance equipment, room had to be made for a second crew member, a Launch Control Officer, who was to be in charge of the launching of the D-21.

This immediately raises a question: has this combination of A-12/D-21 actually been used for an aerial espionage operation? There is some evidence of

. ,'.. ' .. 'J . , ", , ," '..;"' ."..'.

'·.combination;'B,'52/D,,21;'been used for,a~rial eSjJlOnage? ".' ~,Andif5o,where?.Hasthis pilotless spyJlownoverthe".

. Soviet Union at more than four times the speed of sound'

. at unheard-oLheights? All these questions will remain :unanswered unless and until the CIA reveals its rolein the

.' secret American aerial espionage activities in the sixties.

Two phoTOgraphs of the mysterious D-21 eSPi!!nage drone - on TOp of a Lockheed A-12 (above) and under the wings of a Boeing B-52H bomber. The pictures were taken in the sixties, but only released in April 1982 (Lockheed).



Published ill 19HCi by Osprey Publishing Ltd Member Company of the George Philip Group 12-14 Long Acre, London WC2E 9LP

This book is copyrighted under the Berne Convention. Al! rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing fOf the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as p_ermitted under the Copyright Act, 1956, no part of this publicAtion may be reprod uced, stored in a retrieval svstel1l, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic. electrical, chemical, mechanical, optical, phOlocop"ing, recording or otherwise, without the prior permissioJ] of copyright owner. Enquiries should be addressed to the Publishers.

© Copnight 19H() Bed{iJr(1 Editions Ltd.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Spick, Mike

American spyplanes.-(Osprey combat aircraft)

I. Reconnaisance aircraft-U ni ted States-History

I. Title 623.74'67'0973 UG1242.R4

ISBN 0-85045-719·X

T\"peser iJ\' Flair plan Photo-typesetting Lid. Pl'illted I)\' Proost International Book Produoioll, TlIrJJllolll.. Belgiulll.

Colour artw()]'ks: profiles 011 pages 25, '27 (top) and 32 (top), © Pilot Press Ltd.;jacket, pages '26-'27 (second from top and bottom), 2H-29 and 30<11, Mike Keep, © l.kcU(Jr(! Editions Ltd. Diagrams: TICA. PllOtogl'aphs: Supplied hy Lockheed-Califi)]'llia Co.; U niler! Stales Department of Defense; and Lindsay Peacock (page 42). LillC dra\\'illgs (page :\6): © Pilot Press Ltd.

The Author MIKE SPICK has had a lifelong interest in military aviation, and is author of several technical books and articles in aviation magazines covel'ing various aspects of the su bject. One of his leisure pursuits, wargaming. led him to a close study of air warfare, combat aircraft and the evol ution of air combat tactics, on aJl of whidl he has written extensively.

Contents

Chapter J: Introduction Chapter 2: Lockheed U-'2 Chapter 3: LJ-2 Variants Chapter 4: Colours and Markings Chapter 5: l'cr!(lnnallce Chapter 6: The U-2/TR- J ill Service' Chapter 7: The Lockheed A-12IYF-12/SR-7 I Chapter H: Productioll and Service American Strategic Recollnaissance Units

5

J J

l(j

]9

21

4()

4H


econnalSSan(

military aere .......... __ this role as' I

time is obvious, spe,

del'S on the ground doing and, indeed,

been widely used in : abreast of developm' try or even a friend certain technical de,

the late 19305 this F spread, classic exac Lufthansa airliners

airfield at Biggin H over Germany in his the final two mOJ1th~ relevant to the pres! made up the East co frequencies and emi~

Co),

With the olltorea k of intelligence by airc rather than a covert

degree of effecliven brought with it a rela gent attitude of th,

which brought abul War-ensured that 1

entirely cease. The <:

tional mistrust saw shooting down of a B airliner over Berlin b

doing little to help. The so-called Iron

effectively cutting the time, the West was weapons and the me Union had neither, t

ligHtly inwards, vhile to achieve Hight, they are

·ramjet

)rogramme was k Whitney J75 which was not described as a static thrust of thrust. of both TOGW of just Her of the day. of acceleration

aximum speed )8 is optimised light envelope. 'n a motorway. peed, but once ~ the Blackbird ng acceleration hers are either fact, the shock Js until a speed


Twin fins are mounted on top of the engine nacelles. These are unusual in that t.hey have a fixed stub portion, while the entire top section is movable. An all-moving fin is more effective in supersonic flight than a fixed fin and rudder, while at high Mach numbers a low aspect ratio fin, such as that on the Blackbird series, is to be preferred. The fins are canted inwards at about 15 deg, which acts to reduce the rolling moment generated by sideslip. There is a spin-off effect to this in that a 90 deg radar reflecting angle with the nacelle is avoided, and the radar signature is thus reduced. One danger with such widely spaced engines arises from asymmetric thrust, which would occur in the event of engine failure or loss of thrust on one side. If this happens, a large amount of i"lJdder is fed in automatically, to counter the resulting yaw which could if unchecked take the

Above: One of the first pictures released portrayed YF·12A 06934 in the black and silver finish that was initially applied. The YF-12A's folding ventral fin is also clearly visible.

aircraft beyond structural limi~s. with disastrous re

sults. The U-2 series was limited in range more by piiot

endurance than by fuel. This is not the case with the Blackbird, which is a thirsty beast and which has been configured from the outset for in·flight refueliing, a receptable being located in the centre fuselage section behind the cockpit. The high landing speed also makes a braking parachute necessary and this is housed in a dorsal compartment set towards the rear.

Below: "Mother Goose and chick". One of the two A·12s that served as a mother ship for the GTD·21 drone is seen in flight with a drone attached. Bottom: As far as is known, the A.12/GTD.21 pairing did not progress beyond the test stage although the drone was used operationally from the B·52H.

39



roduction I'"

total of 15 A-12s was built, with USAF serials 60-6924 to 60-6933, and 60-6937 to 60-6941. Few A-12 photographs have been

released and those that have depict the aircraft in Air Force markings. In fact, programme secrecy was preserved until February 1964, when its existence was revealed by President Johnson, who referred to

it as the A-II, thus starting that particular canard. As with the U-2, it was found advantageous to

have a two-seater training variant, aircraft number 60-6927 being produced with a second cockpit raised above the line of the first and occupying space normally taken by the Q-bay. This aircraft was fitted ~vith J75 engines and had no operational capability, its top speed being just Mach 1.2.

Although the A-12 was plagued with technical problems for the first two years of its flying career, CIA pilot training started in about mid-1963. Details of the missions flown are virtually non-existent but it

. '" ~.

.....

8 ..

rVICe

is known that the type operated from Groom Lake and from a CIA enclave at Kadena AB, Okinawa. In all, six of the 15 A-12s built fell victim to accident~ but only one could truly be described as an operational loss, this disappearing soon after departure from Kadena in June 1968 and bringing that particular operation to a sudden halt. Nonetheless, the A-12 had the best performance of any member of the Blackbird family, reportedly being capable of attaining Mach 3.6-about 2,065ktsl3,827kmlhr and 95,000ft (28,995m).

The final two A-12s were modified to carry the GTD-21B drone, a second crewman being carried in the converted Q-bay, while the drone was mounted on a pylon above the rear fuselage. In this configura-

Below: The first of two purpose-built SR-71 B two-seat trainers, and, incidentially, the only surviving example, 17956 has logged well over 1,000 sorties since h entered service with the 9th'SRW at Beale AFB, California in the mid·1960s.


tion, the A-12 probably better programme as

The GTD-21 capable, reconn; flight missions. : altitude platforr pre-programme! this in a special J

predetermined F

ified C-130. The GTD-21/l\1-12 c ing the loss of ( launch. The GT operationally in "mother-ship" .

AJ

In September J

Rapier Mach 3 ( mainly due to la, ment remained possibility of usin

Below: Production 0

kicked off with 17951 western USA. SAC h, aircraft is believed to

~ ,

,m Groom Lake \B. Okinawa. In to accidents but

i an operational :leparture from ~ rhat particular leiess, the A-12 member of the Ipable of attain-827km/hr and

ed to carry rhe being carried in e was mounted 1 this configura-

two-seat trainers, ),17956 has service with the 1960s.

Approved for Release: 2018/11/16 C0511521 0 tion, the A-I:? became the M-IL:, altllOugtllt was IhlsoUiyemergedastheYF-12A,threeexamplesof probably better known by those associated with the which were built. Given the serial numbers 60-6934 programme as "Mother Goose". to 60-6936, the first of these made its maiden flight

The GTD-2 i B was a ramjet-powered, Mach 4 from Groom Lake on 7 August 1963 and it differed capable, reconnaissance platform for high-risk over- from the A-12 quite considerably. flight missions. Launched from a high-speed, hig'h- For a start, at 101.67ft (30.99m) long, the fuselage altitude platform such as the M-12, it would fly a had been slightly extended whilst it was also a pre-programmed course, gathering data and storing dedicated two-seater, with a weapons system officer this in a special package which would be ejected at a ensconced in a flush-faired cockpit behind the pilot. predetermined point for retrieval by a suitably 11l0d- The nose had been redesigned to house the Hughes ified C-130. The drone itself was expendable but the AN/ASG-IS radar, originally developed for the GTD-'2l1M-12 combination was abapdoned foUow- North American F-lOS. ing the loss of 60-6941 in July 1966 during a test launch. The GTD-21 may, however, have been used operationally in concert with the B-52H as a "mother-ship".

A Blackbird interceptor

In September 1959, the North American F-I08 Rapier Mach 3 capable fighter had been cancelled, mainly due [0 lack of funds. However, the requirement remained and it was decided to explore the possibility of using an A -12 variant as an interceptor.

Below: Production of the SR-71A for Strategic Air Command kicked off with 17950, seen here in flight somewhere over the western USA. SAC has always been coy about figures but this aircraft is believed to be one of several which have crashed.

The ASG-IS was the first coherent pulse Doppler radar to be designed for fighter use and incorporated the travelling wave tube instead of the magnetron. This, allied to recent advances in digital computer technology, bestowed look-down capability, a feature absent from earlier radars. The radar range was around 100 naut. miles (l61km), and the weapon adopted, also developed for the F-I08, was the Hughes'GAR-9 (later AIM-47A) which was capable of Mach 6 and which possessed a range capability matching that of rhe radar. Three AIM-47As were carried in internal weapons bays.

The nose chines were cut back clear of the radome and infra-red sensors were installed in the chine leading edge on both sides. The nose modifications resulted in reduced stability which was compensated

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